ICRC assists victims of an explosion at a petrol station in Goma, DRC

21-01-2002 News Release 02/04

Copyright German Red Cross / International Federation of the Red Cross

Nairobi/Geneva (ICRC) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Goma has provided dressing materials and a special medical kit for burns to help health facilities treating victims of an explosion at a petrol station in the city earlier today. The ICRC continues to monitor the situation at the facilities treating the injured.

Meanwhile, the ICRC is working with the local water company, Regideso, to at least partially restore piped water to Goma. Two of the three pumping stations in the city are in principle still functional. However, there are concerns about the quality of the water used by these stations. The ICRC and the Regideso are testing whether the water is chemically polluted in areas where the lava has flown into Lake Kivu and which are close to the site of one of the pumping stations. In a related development, the ICRC has now begun providing the Regideso with pipes to begin repairing damage to the water distribution system.

In the meantime, the ICRC has begun trucking water to eastern Goma from neighbouring Gisenyi using a 30,000 litres water truck. The organisation also continues to support a local NGO, Amis Kivus, which provides purified lake water in jerrycans for the population. The ICRC is assisting with chlorine tablets and jerrycans used at Amis Kivu's 17 distribution points on the shores of Lake Kivu.